Chapter One

Haley Alexandria Night-Underwood

“I’m so tired of it, Nicole. I don’t know how much longer I can take the abuse anymore. It’s really starting to get to me, and grandma won’t even do a thing about it,” I grumble as I slide into my assigned seat in the back of the class. Nicole drops her Kiddettes bag beside her desk, letting her rifle thump to the floor as she slides into her seat next to me. Zipping open the front pocket of her backpack she pulls out her mascara, beginning to apply it on in her small pocket mirror.

“If this all comes crashing down, Haley...you know you’re always welcome at my house,” she blinks twice then side glances at me, smirking. “Well, my grandparents house anyways. You know how my mom is.” Nicole turns back to her mirror, applying mascara to the other side. Yes, I knew exactly what her mother was like. She hated me with a passion, yet I really never got to know the reason why. Most likely from the Biology trip my class and I took about a month back. Then again, that’s not something I wanna think back on. I clear my throat and cough lightly into my shoulder, crossing my arms over my desk and laying my head in my arms. All the lights except a dim beam of it are shut out of my vision; all I could hear was the talking of my friends surrounding me. But today, today I wasn’t a part of the group anymore. I was more a lone wolf than anything. I chuckle softly to myself as I think of The Hangover. Today, I was truly the “one girl wolf pack”.

Smirking slightly to myself, I breathe out a deep sigh through my nose as I lift my head up a little. My eyes barely peering over my arms, I look around the room. Just a little more than half of the room is filled up so far, and then there is the two minute bell. I look over at Nicole and roll my eyes, seeing her putting on a thick coat of eyeliner on. Closing my eyes once more, I breathe in and out slowly, yawning against my shirt sleeve as I drift in and out of consciousness. The day seemed to drag on and on even though it was a Friday. Not only was it a Friday, but it was the Friday before SPRING BREAK. Oh yeah. It was that time of the year, almost close to SUMMER VACATION and-

*RING*

I jump slightly and sit up in my seat, blinking quickly a few times before my eyes fully adjust to the lights again. More of them had been turned on. I glance at the white board and groan softly to myself, shaking my head as I read over today’s Lesson Plans.

April 22, 2011

-Test

-Movie- Samurai at Sunset

 I look away from the board, scanning the classroom when my eyes meet with Holly’s. Holly waves and shows off her bright white smile. I raise my hand from off the desk, weakly waving with a toothless grin. No, I’m not toothless! I just never show my teeth when I smile. Lowering my eyes, my gaze travels across the patterned carpet to find Mrs. Mayfield’s black pointed dress shoes at the front of the classroom. Her elegant dress shirt and business skirt to go with it make her look almost anorexic the way it squeezes her already small figure. Looking up at her face, I watch as she scans the room to make sure she has everyone’s attention. Everyone gets quiet, and then she begins, “I would like to begin by announcing the Daily Plans for today. First, I had originally planned for us to take a test. But seeing that it IS the Friday before Spring Break, you deserve a break. So, in other words, we are dropping the test and we will be watching the movie called Samurai at Sunset for the whole period.” Whispered approvals rise up, but Mrs. Mayfield raises her hand, the voices dying down once more. “You know, it’s- it’s really amazing because, have any of you ever seen Batman?” Multiple hands go up around the room and Mrs. Mayfield nods, signaling for us to put them down while she continues, “The actor who plays Batman"“

“--Christian Bale!” someone shouts out to finish her sentence from the other side of the room. I can see Damon’s smirk as he ducks his head back down behind Adrianna. Mrs. Mayfield nods simply, though you could tell she is slightly irritated about the interruption. It must have been a long day for her, because she is never like this with our class. Even though our class is the last one of the day, she always seemed cheerful. No wonder why she cut Lesson Plans shorter than usual.

“The actor who plays Batman in The Dark Knight,” Mrs. Mayfield hesitates only a second before saying his name, almost as if she was challenging Damon to interrupt again. “Christian Bale plays the lead character, as a young kid. Can you imagine that?” she glances around the room, not much of a reaction spurs from the class, so she continues on as she walks over to the projector with the VCR player beneath it on its rolling rack. “So, we’re going to watch this film. And it’s about the attack on Japan during World War 2. It’s a great movie and it just really, really gives me great pleasure to be able to show you great films like this, because it’s like you can visualize this stuff easier…and it just gives you"“

“--A better understanding.” Damon finishes again for Mrs. Mayfield. Mrs. Mayfield closes her eyes for a second before standing to her full height again, still not very tall, and speaks in a stern voice. “Damon, this classroom needs to remain a quiet environment alright? That’s enough.” Damon nods and lays his head on the desk like I had been doing not even 5 minutes ago. The projector comes to life, the main menu popping up on the screen. Images of a little boy riding his bike through a Japanese countryside, chasing after a car. Another scene flashes by, the same boy carrying a toy plane while running through a field dressed in a sort of Indian ceremony clothing. Mrs. Mayfield clicks play, and the movie begins. I lay my chin down on my arms, looking over at the screen front and center in the classroom for a while before drifting off to sleep.

I wake up to someone shaking my arm lightly, opening my eyes slowly while I sit up. Mrs. Mayfield stands beside my desk, her arms crossed over her chest and her foot lightly tapping the floor. Ha. Typical pissed off teacher look.

“Don’t let me catch you sleeping in here again. This is class time, not nap time.” I nod slowly and she dismisses it with the fakest smile possible, walking away to her desk again. When she finally sits down, I glance up at the clock. 2:32pm. Well, at least there’s only about ten minutes left of class. A swift jab in my shoulder causes me to take in a sharp breath, turning to glare at the person who assaulted me. I look over my shoulder at Isaac, smiling wide with a pencil in his hand.

“Hey sleepy hollow…have a nice nap?” he whispers playfully with a charming grin.

I smile and wave, mouthing “Very funny” with a sneer. Isaac grins and sits back in his desk, slouching slightly as he props his feet up on the legs of Nicole’s chair. Nicole grunts and grabs the edges of her desk, scooting it forward a couple of inches just out of his reach. I chuckle lightly to myself and shake my head, looking back over at the movie when suddenly I feel my desk move a bit. I pick up my arm and look down at the desk leg to see a foot there. Glancing over my shoulder I meet eyes with Jaime, causing me to freeze in place. I had a huge crush on Jaime, and this right here was a big thing for him to be playfully messing around with me. Ever since Nicole had told him I had liked him, he hadn’t talked to me much, not even so much as look at me like he used to.

Jaime looks away and makes a face like he has no clue what is going on, making me smile a bit. I turn back away and lay my head down until I feel my desk shaking. I turn back around to look at him grinning nearly from ear to ear as his hands shoot up as if surrendering as he mumbles, “It’s not me!” I roll my eyes and giggle, my cheeks burning a light pink as I bury them in my arms. Nicole is staring at me with a mischievous grin and I can tell she knows exactly what’s going on. She raises an eyebrow and I grin more, my high cheek bones pushing up, giving me away. Nicole’s smile widens and she shakes a finger at me, causing me to blush more as I look away to the other side of the room. I stare over at Rachael until she looks at me finally, a question mark look on her face. Nodding my head to the side towards Nicole, Rachael nods and laughs silently, pointing a finger at me. I shake my head, lifting my face from my arms and mumbling “NOT FUNNY!”

The minutes seemed to be passing by like hours, what’s taking so lo"

*RING*

“FINALLY!” I think to myself as I push out of my seat, running right into Jaime.

“Oh I’m so"“

“No that’s ok, I"“I stop talking, blushing brightly as I awkwardly step to the side. Biting my lip shyly, I add “It was my fault. I apologize.” Nicole hooks her arm into mine, pulling me away from Jaime. Slinging my backpack over my right shoulder as I wave bye to Jaime, adding a small smile. Jaime waves lightly, slowly dropping his hand as he turns back to Isaac and begins talking, staring after me and Nicole.

“Hey, what are you doing girl?” she asks me as she pulls me through the doorway, squeezing between people. I unhook myself from her and shrug.

“You know, maybe if you started to actually let me have a chance and talk with him, things might actually work out between us.” I glare at her just as she opens her mouth again, causing her to close it once more. I pull my iPod touch out of my back pocket by its earphone cord, clicking in the password and then thumbing through my 500+ songs. I plug in my earphones into both my ears, closing out the world as listen to Maybe by Sick Puppies. Bobbing my head up and down rhythmically with the music, I walk to the bike racks, pulling my keys from my front pocket. I stand in front of my Schwinn cruiser, leaning over the handlebars as I stick the key into the lock. Pulling the tangled mess free from the front tire, I click the lock closed and stick it on the handlebar. I pull my bike off the rack and walk out to the front of the school, showing the guard my I.D.

Getting on my bike; I click replay on my iPod and I ride off down the street towards…what? My house? …did I really have a choice? I mean sure, yeah I could go over to Nicole’s house but I felt extremely uncomfortable taking advantage of people like that. I was brought up to fight for your right, and to never let anything stop you from doing what you want most. I think I’ll go home and pack, because tomorrow, I’d be gone. I could manage without my family, I could make it on my own. Like they always say, “home is where you make it.” right? The lyrics of the song Maybe play over and over in my head as I listen to the song, embedding in my brain. One specific stanza really standing out from the rest of the song.

Maybe it's time to change
And leave it all behind
I've never been one to walk alone
I've always been scared to try
So why does it feel so wrong
To reach for something more
To wanna live a better life
What am I waiting for?
'Cause nothing stays the same
Maybe it's time to change

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very strong chapter. You create strong characters and a lot of problems needed to be repaired. A very good storyline. You have my attention. I will keep reading. A excellent chapter.
Coyote

[~Lizzy♬]

This chapter is really good. I love how you made your characters portray different emotions and sides. It gave me the real view of these characters. I can't wait to read more. It was a great chapter. :)

~Lizzy~